First tail! Neoprene, sequins and...iridescent organza?

[Bioluminescence]

So my Fin Fun monofin is on the way, and soon I'll be ready to get started on my very first tail! I've finally got a design together that I think I'll be superbly happy with and I'm really excited to share my learning experience with everyone here! I've got a fair amount of sewing and beading experience under my belt so while I've never worked with neoprene before, I think I'll be okay. So here's the sketch, sorry for my lack of drawing skills:
28686

I'm going to start with a white neoprene base. The sequins in the shaded areas on the tail will be purple like this:
28687

And on the white section down the center of the front and back they'll be like this:
28688

For the fluke, I'm just going to do a zip at the bottom, but I want to have the dark line which will probably be purple along the top be slightly padded and I hope to use aqua iridescent organza like this:
28689

gathered all along it to sort of cover the fluke and make it look like a long, flowy, ruffly fluke. The fins on the side and the dorsal fin will be similar with the padded portion giving some support to a long ruffle of the iridescent organza. I imagine the side fins won't be as large as they are in the drawing, though.

The top of the tail will probably come all the way to my waist rather than just at my belly button. I'm hoping that way it will smooth out my...bumps...and hide my tummy a bit!

I'm not sure what kind of bra/top I'll be making. I imagined making a neoprene top that comes down to my waist and building a bra into it for support, then adding some sequin accents along the top and some gathered organza over the bra area...like you know how regular bras will have gathered material over the cup and it looks sort of sea shellish? That's what I'm thinking. It will most likely be a halter top, too. Anything else allows water to drag down my top when I'm swimming fast and nobody wants to see that! When I come up with a design that I'm really happy with, I'll post it.

So yeah...there's my plan so far. I know it seems really ambitious but...I feel pretty confident about it! If I'm about to make a huge mistake though, please let me know! Also, I know there have been a lot of tails made, so I'm not infringing on anyone's design, am I? I also have no clue how iridescent organza handles in the water. I know it's kind of a tacky fabric (at least in general I think it's considered that but I could be wrong!) but I figured if there was any place that it would be okay to use it, it would be as a mermaid! As of right now since I'm still in the planning stages, I'm happy to hear any advice at all!

[Mermaid Mhara]

Loving that design! Seems like an awesome idea :) can't wait to see you get started!

[Rett]

Looking forward to seeing your progress, should be exciting! :D

[ShyMer]

Love it! Your color combination is gorgeous!

[MerShellly]

^agreed!

[Tauriel]

beautiful!! i too am going to make my first tail very soon! happy splashing :D

[Mermaid Dottie]

That looks like it's going to be gorgeous! I do want to recommend a criss-cross back, or racerback, though, instead of a halter. It will give you more support, and make it even less likely for water to pull your top down or cause it to gap. Tested this with my own tops.
Added bonus of not going with a halter: neoprene can be tight, or heavy, so a racerback or criss-cross will keep your neck from aching.

[Bioluminescence]

That looks like it's going to be gorgeous! I do want to recommend a criss-cross back, or racerback, though, instead of a halter. It will give you more support, and make it even less likely for water to pull your top down or cause it to gap. Tested this with my own tops.
Added bonus of not going with a halter: neoprene can be tight, or heavy, so a racerback or criss-cross will keep your neck from aching.
Thank you so much! I hadn't thought of that at all, though I really should have. I'm working on the design right now, so I'll post it in a little bit here :)

[MermaidBrandie]

Just so you know: the fin-fun monofin doesn't get a lot of propulsion and the neoprene will float a bit so this might be hard to swim in!
This design looks lovely though!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bioluminescence]

Thank you for letting me know! Hmmm...should I go with spandex instead then? I'm not sure if I would be able to cancel my order on the fin fun monofin so I'll probably just order another one at a later date?

[LockandKey]

Love the design!! I'm making a neoprene/sequin tail with a finfun monofin as well. One thing I've noticed about mine is that the sequins make it quite heavy. This might counteract the buoyancy of the neoprene? It's almost done so once I do some swims in it I can let you know! I wish you the best of luck on your tail! I'm excited to see it (:

[Bioluminescence]

I've been keeping an eye on your thread, it's wonderfully inspiring! Thank you! :)

[LockandKey]

Awww thanks !

[Mermaid Saoirse]

I'm loving your idea!
Just be sure to properly hem or use fray check on the edges of the organza. I'm using it for a frabric tail I'm making for a friend currently and it frays like the Flash can run!
Best of luck :mermaid kiss:

[MermaidBrandie]

Thank you for letting me know! Hmmm...should I go with spandex instead then? I'm not sure if I would be able to cancel my order on the fin fun monofin so I'll probably just order another one at a later date?
Personally...i would leave the fin fun mono fin for a spandex tail, or get a different mono fin for the neoprene tail. Neoprene is really quite floaty. Mine was 5mm thick and when i went to the side of the pool and relaxed, my whole lower half floated on its own just from the tail. I've swam in my friends fin fun. Its great for playing around, but it really doesnt get you far. I personally think in a neoprene tail it'll be nearly useless... :( Maybe a spandex fabric with a power mesh liner for added strength?



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bioluminescence]

I'm loving your idea!
Just be sure to properly hem or use fray check on the edges of the organza. I'm using it for a frabric tail I'm making for a friend currently and it frays like the Flash can run!
Best of luck :mermaid kiss:

Thank you! Luckily I've got a serger so I can do a rolled hem on everything! But I'll definitely add fray check as well for extra security :)




Personally...i would leave the fin fun mono fin for a spandex tail, or get a different mono fin for the neoprene tail. Neoprene is really quite floaty. Mine was 5mm thick and when i went to the side of the pool and relaxed, my whole lower half floated on its own just from the tail. I've swam in my friends fin fun. Its great for playing around, but it really doesnt get you far. I personally think in a neoprene tail it'll be nearly useless... :( Maybe a spandex fabric with a power mesh liner for added strength?



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think the spandex is sounding like a much better idea. Luckily I haven't purchased the neoprene yet, so it's an easy switch. Thank you so much for all your advice.

[MermaidBrandie]

No problem! This looks like it'll be pretty! Are you using the sewing machine for the sequins?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bioluminescence]

No problem! This looks like it'll be pretty! Are you using the sewing machine for the sequins?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think so! I imagine it will be much quicker. I'm curious, though, is it better to sew the tail together first then put the sequins on? Or sew the sequins to each side then sew the sides together? The latter seems like it would make it easier to feed the fabric through the machine but would make it difficult to sew up the sides seamlessly. I see people do it both ways so is it just a matter of preference?

[LockandKey]

So I sewed the sides up first and tried to sequin like that and it got incredibly difficult to wrangle the material on the machine, especially as more sequins were added. I'd definitely keep the sides separated and sew the sequins on first! Also, dont forget to account for shrinkage from sewing sequins. The last thing you want is to sew it up and realize it doesnt fit. This happened me and it is fixable but not fun to fix. Hope that helps, those were just my struggle (x

[Bioluminescence]

So I sewed the sides up first and tried to sequin like that and it got incredibly difficult to wrangle the material on the machine, especially as more sequins were added. I'd definitely keep the sides separated and sew the sequins on first! Also, dont forget to account for shrinkage from sewing sequins. The last thing you want is to sew it up and realize it doesnt fit. This happened me and it is fixable but not fun to fix. Hope that helps, those were just my struggle (x
About how much would you say it shrinks? Or is more just because the thread takes away the stretch, so I should make it to fit me unstretched?

[LockandKey]

My guess is it's a little of both. I would say give yourself atleast an inch or two. Its hard to say how much it shrank. As long as you leave a margin, you can always go in and glue sequins on with some e6000 to cover up any spots you missed (:

[MerEmma]

Any progress? Lovely design and color scheme, I'd love to see this tail.

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